According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson is onboard to play Pat Novak, an influential television magnate. It’s unclear at this point whether Novak will function as an antagonist to the titular cyborg crime fighter or serve some other purpose, perhaps even as an ally.

One possibility is that Jackson’s character will fill the role of an amoral corporate bigwig, as Omni Consumer Products Vice President Richard “Dick” Jones (Ronny Cox) did in the original. If this new version stays relatively faithful to the spirit of the classic, an unscrupulous, monolithic corporation is a key component to the plot. Could Novak’s media empire factor into the story in the same way Omni Consumer Products did in the original?

Ronny Cox as Dick Jones in 'Robocop' (1987)

The remake is expected to retain much of the social commentary of the original (only tailored for the 21st century audience), since issues such as corporate greed and urban decay are just as relevant today as in 1987 — if not more so. There’s even a strong possibility that Jackson’s character could represent a composite of various controversial media tycoons such as News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, not unlike the Bond villain from Tomorrow Never Dies.